DAGUPAN CITY, Philippines—Officials of the National Power Corp. (Napocor) have ordered the opening of one gate of the San Roque Dam in San Manuel, Pangasinan, by 0.5 meter at 10 p.m. Thursday as the reservoir nears its spilling level.
The dam’s water level on Thursday afternoon reached 276.01 meters above sea level (masl), or just 4 meters before it reaches its spilling level of 280 masl, said Tom Valdez, San Roque Power Corp. (SRPC) vice president for community affairs.
Napocor owns the San Roque Dam and spillway, while SRPC owns and operates the power-generating facilities in the complex.
The gate has to be opened because the water inflow was huge at 1,384 cubic meters per second, Valdez said.
San Roque dam catches water from the Binga Dam in Benguet. Binga, on Thursday, continued to release water due to continuous rains in the Cordillera.
“The water level is fast increasing. There’s a big amount of water entering the dam and the rain is still heavy. If we do not open a gate, water could easily be over 280 masl tomorrow (Friday, August 3),” Valdez said.
He said the gate’s 0.5 meter opening means an outflow of 330 cubic meters per second of water from the dam.
While the amount of water release is not expected to cause flooding in riverside and low-lying communities in Pangasinan, Napocor deployed a patrol car announcing the scheduled release of water in the towns along the Agno River, into which the dam releases excess water.
Valdez said sirens have been activated to warn residents about the impending water release.
The towns that could be affected by the water release are Dagupan City, Rosales, San Carlos, Urbiztondo, Mangatarem, Bugallon and Labrador, said Benito Ramos, director of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. With a report from Frances Mangosing
